The Last of Us 2 (Discontinued)
by halofan1997
Summary: Two weeks after the events of the Last of Us, Joel and Ellie have decided to live among a group of survivors in a small Dam in Wyoming. Tommy, Joel's brother is an active member of this group. Joel must work with them to survive, but more than anything, he must learn to deal with his inner demons to try and cope with his past. Rated T for graphic violence and adult language.
1. Prologue

Prologue:

"The Ghosts of the Past"

* * *

"Hey! Dad!" Sarah shouted from across the field.

Joel smiled and waved. The crowds of people, mostly parents, cheered wildly as the Defender's, Sarah's Soccer Team, dominated the field. Friends and siblings of hers and the other players were running all around the bleachers, playing and laughing together. He wasn't much of a fan of soccer, but whenever Sarah played, the game became thrilling for him to watch.

Sarah was a great offensive player, and a fast one too. She stumbled every now and again like all players, but she always knew how to get back up on her feet. She had outstanding control of the ball for her age. All and all she shined above everybody else on her team. Whenever someone tried to excel beyond her skill in an area, she always worked harder to improve herself so she would always be the best. Her pride and stubbornness drove her to be the best. She inherited them from her dad.

Sarah kicked the last goal of the game, winning it for the team. The spectators cheered, and the entire team joined her on the field to celebrate their victory. All of them jumped around Sarah and screamed wildly.

Long after the other team left, the coach distributed trophies to all the players. Sarah won the MVP Award. She skipped up to Joel playfully, holding the trophy high over her head. It wasn't a plastic trophy like the kind most kids win at games. Sarah's team just won the state finals! Instead, they all got trophies made of gold-layered cast iron. Though, one couldn't tell it was iron unless they scraped off the golden layer. Sarah looked at it as a symbol of her prowess and greatest accomplishments

"Look at him," she said, referring to the trophy as a person, and holding the face of the trophy close to her father's, "Ain't it shiny?"

Joel smirked and pushed the trophy out of his face, slightly annoyed by her odd, yet charming demeanor.

"Sure is, baby girl" he said playfully, "but if this is how you're gonna act every time you win a game, I mine as well stop coming to these matches of yours."

"Ha-ha, dad. I won't be this way _every_ game. Just the championships." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Well, I'll be sure to not come to those then." He replied. Sarah pushed him playfully, only to rock her father back and forth. Something about this moment felt like deja vu to Joel, but he ignored it. He was in heaven.

A photographer took a team photo, then took pictures of all the players and their parents as they left. Sarah's friends invited her to a sleepover at their place. At first, Joel said no, but Sarah wouldn't leave until she was allowed to go.

"Hey, you want me to take your picture together?" the photographer asked them, as they were about to leave.

"Yeah," Sarah said and goofily hopping to her father's side, holding the trophy high in the air without giving him time to respond. Joel smiled joyously, and hooked his arm around his daughter's neck.

For some bizarre reason, Joel couldn't help but feel like it had been a lifetime since he was this happy. The photographer snapped the picture and the light flashed. Joel adjusted to the light, and then looked back at Sarah. Suddenly, she wasn't there, and neither was the field. He looked around and noticed that he was not outside anymore at all. This place was more familiar to him, and it dawned on him quickly. It was the hospital building in Salt Lake City where the fireflies met him and Ellie.

Joel continued to look around with a horrified expression as he saw and recognized the bodies of fireflies filled the floors. They were fireflies he killed to save Ellie. He tightened his grip, and realized he was holding something. It was his revolver. His clothes had changed too from the casual clothes he wore at the game to his survival outfit. He had his backpack on and everything.

"No, this ain't right," he told himself, "I saved Ellie. I know I did. Why would I be back here?"

"Joel," came a faint cry from across the hall. It was Ellie's voice.

"Ellie?" Joel replied, believing he had mistaken her voice for another's.

"Joel!" Came the cry again, more desperate than before. This _was_ Ellie's voice, and she sounded like she was in trouble.

"Ellie!" Joel shouted, sprinting down the hall towards the direction of her voice, "I'm coming."

The end of the hall seemed to expand beyond his reach as he pursued it. He recognized the room at the end of the hall as Ellie's Operating Room. They're going to kill her! But how did they find her and catch her again? It didn't matter. What matters to Joel is that Ellie is inside, and probably in danger. He needed to save her by any means necessary.

The feeling of anguish and anger rushed inside him all at once. The feeling was the same as that night he rescued Ellie. This was all too familiar to him. This entire reality seemed out of place, but Joel couldn't focus on that. He needed to get to Ellie!

"Joel!" She cried again, this time he heard her actually crying in terror. "Please, Joel! Help!"

He became more desperate. Voices invaded his thoughts out of nowhere. He heard the voices of people he killed. The helpless doctors he killed in the operation room really daunted on him, and they're words echoed in his thoughts. He heard voices of people he was close with... Tess... Ellie's crying evolved into Tess's voice, and now she was the one crying.

"Tess?" Joel screamed, "Is that you?"

"Joel," Tess wailed in agony, "Joel!"

Suddenly, he heard gunshots behind the operating room door. The area transformed again. Suddenly, he was back in Boston, at the capital building. The door was the same one he shut on Tess before she died, and the hallway was the same as the building it belonged to.

The voices... they taunted him, infuriated him, and fueled him with rage.

He reached the door and opened it immediately. He entered, but it wasn't the operating room nor any room in the Capital Building, He was back inside his old home, and Ellie wasn't there at all. In the center of the room, was his daughter Sarah. The room was dark, but some streak of red light filled the room, giving it an eerie feeling. Joel took a step inside.

"Sarah?" He spoke softly. Her back was turned to him, but she was in the direct center of the room. As she turned, Joel saw spores hanging off her face. Her eyes were clouded, and blood filled her teeth. She dashed for him.

"Sarah!" Joel screamed in agony. She jumped on top of him and tackled him to the ground. He instinctively pushed his arm to her neck to keep her from biting him. He couldn't bring himself to fight his own daughter. The rage he felt evaporated into helplessness and despair. Sarah even wore the same pajamas on the night she died. He couldn't kill her. He'd rather her kill him instead. But then, a gunshot... And Sarah's body limply fell to the side.

The room changed again, into the house he shared with Henry and his brother Sam. He looked down at his daughter's body, but found Sam lying there instead. His lifeless body jerked and rattled as blood spewed from his open mouth.

"Sam," he heard Henry say. Joel turned to find him in the corner of the room, "It's all your fault!" Henry pointed the gun he used on Sam at Joel. Before Joel could say anything, Henry pulled the trigger… And then Joel stood up from his covers.

He drew a deep breath, gasped, and then repeated it until he could breath normally again. It was just a bad dream...

 **THE LAST OF US 2**

The Next Adventure


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_

 _ **Hello everybody! If any of you are wondering what this "Last of Us 2" is, let me answer that for you. I'm a big Last of Us Fan, like many of you I'm sure. I do not read fanfiction, nor do I like writing by any means. I'm not geeky at all! However, this is the exception. (And a previous fanfic sequel I was writing at one point for Eragon to try and fix the horrible ending to the 4**_ _ **th**_ _**book, but unfortunately realized I didn't like writing it, so I discontinued it.)**_

 _ **When I'm writing the story, I keep it real. I want people to be sucked right back into the Last of Us universe. I want you all to feel as you're actually playing a sequel to the Last of Us, and I really think a lot of people will.**_

 _ **I want this story to be as great as possible, and that means I will take my time releasing chapters (Lots of Time) to edit each chapter: that means grammar, punctuation, visual content, plot details, imagery, and sometimes I completely throw a chapter away and rewrite it (I've redone this entire chapter by the way!). It may take a week, two weeks, or even a month to make a chapter because I care! I apologize if you're impatient, but I hate releasing chapters too early and face-palming myself when I want to change something.**_

 _ **Also, this is not some "Soap-Opera" Super-epic tale I'm telling like many fanfictions I've read (which is why I don't like reading fanfictions), rather it's a story I'm trying to make as realistic, evenly paced, and as emotional, but not too emotional, as possible. Just know that I'm gonna work hard to create something great, something new, and I hope something many people are going to love!**_

 _ **Feel free to read, review, and comment at any time, and sit back relax, and most of all enjoy, my fanfiction: The Last of Us 2: The Next Adventure.**_

Chapter One:

"Two Weeks Later"

 **Act One**

" **Spring"**

" **Two Weeks After the Incident at the Hospital"**

Joel spent most of his nights lying awake in bed thinking about the incident with the fireflies at the hospital in Salt Lake City. After telling Ellie the fireflies stopped searching for a cure, he couldn't tell her the truth about what actually went down. He had to pretend like he didn't kill those people, and Marlene, someone Ellie cared about. _Killing_ didn't bother him; not anymore, but lying about it felt out of line. He'd have to cope with his choices, as always. It wasn't new to him; only he had to do it while pretending like everything was "alright". That was the challenge. He'd sometimes get people asking if anything was the matter with him, and he simply responded that he had a rough night.

Eventually, light started to shine through the cracks of the ceiling and people started waking up and walking out the door to go to work. Joel took some time before getting up to reflect on his past, then he got up and left. The early birds among the men were Tommy, who was usually up before anyone else, Stanley, Jeff, and Earl.

Tommy wasn't ever an early bird before the apocalypse. Now, when he wakes up early and Joel or somebody else tries asking him about it, Tommy's excuse was "I'm up to help my wife guard the gate." Joel knew his little brother better than that. Yes, his wife was important, but Maria was one tough woman. He suspected Tommy was having trouble sleeping. They did things together; things he knew Tommy wasn't proud of, which was enough to keep Joel up at night. Tommy hated to admit his guilt, but realistically, Joel knew there was no way anyone could just forget things like that.

Stanley, one of the first settlers, was a farmer from Montana before the apocalypse began. He was born in a hospital in Helena City, but grew up in rural Oregon after his parents were killed in a car accident. His uncle taught him everything he knew about farming: including how to work with horses. During the winter and summer seasons, he works with the horses, but in the spring and fall, he works in the gardens of the town. Maria took his place caring for horses during these two seasons.

Earl is an ex-marine and one of the toughest members of the group. His story begins at the start of the apocalypse. He went AWOL after his CO ordered him to gun down a group of civilians in a contaminated area. He was a lone patrol sent to clear out an area of infected, not innocent men, women, and children. At the time, no one knew how the infection spread, so the military had to make sure everyone suspected of being infected couldn't spread the dreadful infection. If there was any possibility a person was contaminated with the disease, Earl was supposed to terminate whoever it was and he didn't like that. He not only ignored his order, but rounded up the people he found, and helped them get to safety in an abandoned warehouse. He never told his CO where he was or what he did, so the military assumed he was KIA via infection.

Eventually, Earl's original group was killed off. One of their members wandered off on their own and got infected on the way back to the safe zone. He came back, turned, and bit another survivor, then another, and nobody knew how the virus spread. It was until five or six more were bitten that they realized what was happening. Eventually, the entire group got infected, aside from Earl and two other people. Earl was forced to gun them all down. The two survivors he was with eventually went their separate ways with Earl after he killed their friends. Joel tried asking him about it, but he refuses to talk about it much. Even so, this story is very well-known among in the workers. Tommy told it to Joel one day over supper.

Jeff was a fireman who worked in a small town in Utah that had been evacuated early. Apparently, he was once apart of the fireflies from Salt Lake City and had only recently had Joel discovered that about him. Anyways, Jeff left the fireflies for the same reasons Tommy did. He once said, "it's like being in a goddamn soap-opera! Everything the fireflies say they do is all about saving humanity and being righteousness, but it's all bullshit! They complete overlook the harm they done."

Joel liked Jeff the most because he has a very similar view of the world to his. Aside from that, Jeff was a Texan! A natural born redneck and a damn good gunman. When he was little, he used to hunt with his father and brothers for food.

Joel got dressed in his new outfit (a black pollo shirt and a new pair of jeans), put on his shoes, washed his face over a bucket of water, then headed out. He walked down the hall of the barracks and opened the door leading to the outside. A cool breeze brushed across his face. The sunlight glared in his eyes. He turned away and put his hand over them to block out the sun until he had adjusted to this sudden exposure of light. He walked down the small flight of stairs.

Earl was standing beside the stable fence, and came up to greet Joel.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said. Joel walked up to him, half-awake.

"Morning, Earl," Joel returned the greeting, "Have you, uh... seen Tommy lately? I been meaning to speak to him."

"Down by the gate, as usual," he pointed in the direction of the gate, "said he needed to talk something over with his wife."

"Do you know what it's about?" Joel asked. When Tommy needed to talk something over with his wife, it usually had to do with something that Maria wasn't pleased with.

"Something about our supplies running low," Earl shrugged, "I bet Tommy's thinking about going out there to scavenge for anything we need, and she doesn't want him to."

"I'd bet the same," Joel nodded, and then scratched his head. Supplies were running low? Everyone knew it was bound to happen eventually, but not this soon, "anything else you can tell me?"

"Not much," Earl said, "by the way, there's gonna be a poker game tonight at Doug's place if you're interested. Jeff and Stan said they'd be there as well."

"No shit?" Joel said, gleefully, "Does he have a complete set or, what?"

"It's not his. It's Jeff's." Earl told him, "He found it at a bar one time he was out."

"What game is it gonna be?" Joel asked.

"Texas holdem." he answered.

"Alright," Joel said excitedly and thankfully, "I'll come by if I have the time."

"I'm sure you will. I'll be here if you need me." Earl concluded as Joel continued towards the gate.

On the way down, he saw a buzz of activity by the gate. He found Tommy arguing with Maria underneath the front lookout tower. By the time he got there, they were just about done arguing.

"Everything alright?" Joel interrupted.

"Yeah," Maria said sarcastically, "everything's fine. We were just finishing up."

She stormed off in a hurry.

"Maria..." Tommy pleaded for her to come back, but she ignored him.

"What was that about?" Joel asked shaking his head. Tommy stared at his wife with a stressed expression.

"She's upset at me," Tommy told him.

"Yeah, I can see that." Joel retorted, "Why is she?"

"I don't think that's your concern," Tommy passed him by. Joel jogged up to him, and walked by his side.

"Your wife treats you like dirt when you decide something she doesn't like," Joel said, but Tommy just stared down the path, shutting him out, "you should be free to make your own choices. She doesn't have to decide what you should and shouldn't do."

Tommy turned to face his brother. He looked at him sternly, and sighed.

"You think I don't make my choices?" Tommy asked him. He didn't answer. Tommy took a step back and bit his lip. He was getting hot quickly and it wasn't Joel's fault.

"I appreciate your concern," Tommy said, "It's been a stressful morning. I have something to do, and Maria's just... worried is all."

"Yeah," Joel crossed his arms and looked Tommy in the eyes, "Earl told me you were planning to go out. It was just a rumor, but I guess it's true. You know, if you really need someone to go out, I can–"

"Joel..." Tommy put a hand up to interrupt him, "Thank you... but... I can handle this without your help, thanks."

"I can help gather the supplies we need, whatever they are?" Joel asked, "I can help you, maybe it'll give Maria some ease."

"My wife is my priority." Tommy stated, "That means being able to care for her and feed her as well, and we're running low on food too. Once I get enough to bring back, she'll come around. She always does."

Joel nodded. Tommy moved on, returning to the followed for a little while.

 _Low on food?_ , Joel thought to himself, _what kind of bullshit..._

"Tommy, what's really going on?" Joel asked Tommy sincerely just before he went inside. He just ignored him, "Tommy, look. If there is anything I can do to help..."

"You can help me by staying here," Tommy interrupted him, "Protect our family. Protect her… for me. Just while I'm gone. It's the most you can do for me."

Joel didn't like his answer. He felt helpless at the dam. He just nodded with reluctance and then Tommy went back inside. He wasn't the same little brother he knew back in Boston. It was clear he didn't want Joel's help, but whether he _needed_ it was uncertain. Joel followed him up until Tommy entered the men's barracks. Earl came up to Joel with a curious look in his eye.

"What's the matter with him?" Earl asked Joel, "I heard the argument."

"His wife got to him again." Joel responded moving passed him, "It's just like when he told Maria he was gonna take Ellie to the University."

Joel and Earl would have sparked another conversation, but someone shouted from above, and interrupted the conversation.

"Hey, Joel!" Someone shouted from inside the facility, and directly above him. He quickly turned and looked up. On the second story, a worker poked his head out. He wore a dirty engineer's hat that nearly fell off when he looked directly down to find Joel. He didn't know this worker, but Earl did. Somehow, the guy also knew Joel's name.

Joel backpedaled a bit so he could see him better.

"Need something?" Joel asked him.

"Just... Come inside and give us a hand with this," he responded in a rush, "we got a pipe jammed in the steam room."

Joel groaned. He hated "housework".

"On my way," Joel said, hiding his discontent.

"Guess you better get going, then" Earl told him, "sounds like he's in a rush."

"Why would he need to be in a rush? It's early morning." Joel complained, but left before Earl could respond. He didn't care. He just felt like complaining.

Joel jogged up the steps and hurried into the building, making his way past the barracks and the boiler room. The worker who called for him met him right on the bridge that connected the turbine room to the barracks

"What the hell happened?" Joel asked, wanting the specifics.

"Someone was carrying a crate of weapons over to the storage room and dropped a rifle down into the steam room. One of our guys tried to get it out himself, but it got jammed in pretty good between two cogs and a pipe."

Joel brushed his whiskers, and rolled his head.

"Lead the way," he told him, begrudgingly. The worker turned around and jogged down the bridge towards the secondary building where the engineers usually worked. Joel followed him down the steps. Buckley, the "family" dog, ran up to greet them. Joel knelt down to pet him, but the dog jumped up and licked him all over his face.

"Easy, boy, easy." Joel chuckled. The dog was amped up.

"Buckley, sit." the worker, commanded. Joel got back onto his feet and followed the man into the next building.

"Do you have a name?" Joel asked him.

"You can call me Danny," he answered, "my real name's Daniel, but nobody calls me that."

"Danny," Joel repeated it to himself as they entered the building, "So, Danny, why are you in such a hurry to get this gun out?"

"I'm an engineer working in the steam room that provides the settlement with heat during the cold season," he answered, "Actually, "steam room" is just a nickname I gave it. It's where the water passes through the dam and supplies the facility with heat and purifies water that passes through the dam."

"Why do you call it a "steam room"?" Joel asked.

"Because if a pipe bursts, it vents hot steam into the room and creates a sauna down there."

"Down there?" Joel asked him confused, "You mean there's another level beneath this place."

"Yep," he responded simply, "You've been here for two weeks. I'm surprised you didn't know."

"Yeah, so am I." Joel agreed, scratching his head.

They walked into the room on a platform on the right, raised above the main floor. The turbine was running in the center of the room. Engineers worked below on various tasks Joel knew nothing about.

"What're they doing?" Joel asked with much curiosity.

"Who? Them?" He asked, but could already tell who Joel meant when he turned to look at him.

"Well, basically, they're making sure the hydroelectric dam keeps together," Danny began, "We've all had education in mechanical engineering fields. Each of us work to keep something running. And that, in turn, keeps the turbine running."

"What kind of jobs do you all do?" Joel asked. He probably wouldn't understand, but he was bored and enjoyed conversing with people in the group.

"It's complicated," he said, uncertain of how to begin, "In order to understand how this all operates, you need to have some form of schooling in engineering. We're lucky to have this many educated engineers. I was shocked to see how many survived when I joined this group!"

Joel looked over the railing at the working crew. Each of them was working on a different task, but all of it connected to making the facility function. He couldn't have imagined such a large group people working together to survive in this chaotic world.

"How about you?" Danny asked.

"Excuse me?" Joel didn't understand the question.

"What University did you enroll in?"

"Actually, I never went… " Joel's face grew red. He was embarrassed that he never went to college. It was a mistake on his part, and the reason his wife left him.

"Well, it doesn't matter now," He said, understanding, "I don't think you need anymore schooling in the apocalypse."

"Apparently some of us do," Joel remarked, looking down at the working crew. Without them, this facility wouldn't have an electric fence to keep intruders out and that would make the facility vulnerable to any kinds of attacks. It wouldn't be secure, and eventually, it would fail, like many of the quarantine zones.

"I just realized you don't have a southern accent, do you?" Joel quirked. He just noticed it, but hadn't given it much thought.

"I'm from Chicago,"Danny remarked. They continued walking.

Joel followed him down the end of the platform and down the stairs to the main level. Tommy's office was on the right side of the wall, but Danny passed it and headed straight. A door, covered by two large wooden boards blocked it. It didn't look like it'd been used in a while.

"Where's this hole the gun fell through?" Joel asked, observing the ground, but finding no hole anywhere,

"Oh, that's in another room." he responded, " We don't want people falling in."

"So tell me, how did this guy lose this gun anyways?" Joel wondered, shaking his head.

"The guy dropped a crate, the guns fell out, and one flew off the side of the building," he answered, short and to the point.

"But, I mean, why was this guy doing carrying crates in a room with a hole in the ground?" It was a good question.

"You know the way into the town?" He asked him rhetorically.

Joel looked at another doorway across the hall. The door was easy to pass by without noticing it, but it was the only way to get into the town. Beyond the doorway was a double room. One of them was a utility closet where some people did their laundry, and another was a room Joel had never been through. He realized that must've been the room he was taking about.

"Oh," Joel said, simply.

"Apparently, he lost his balance on one side, slipped, and fell through the door. The room is empty, aside from a big hole in the floor where Houser goes down to turn off the steam valve. That's where the gun fell through."

"Got it," Joel nodded.

Danny pulled the boards aside, and then opened the door using a key he pulled out from his back pocket. Joel looked down a dangerously dark flight of stairs. It was too dark for anyone to see without night vision goggles.

"Is there a light switch you can flip on for me?" Joel asked.

"I can get a flashlight for you if you want." Danny responded, "but I'll have to get it from one of the engineer's working here."

"How about a switch?" Joel asked again. He didn't want to wait for him to get a flashlight.

"Well, we checked for one, but all the lights are dead down there," he replied, "even so, if you wanted to flip the switch, you'd have to go down there and flip the switch from the bottom."

"What kind of architect–?" Joel didn't finish his sentence. The floor beneath him gave way and he fell right in. He blinked a few times, and then got up.

"Hey," Danny called out, "you alright?!"

"Yeah," Joel saw him kneeling from above the hole in the roof, "I'm fine."

"Okay, great! Sorry about the floor." He said, now moving on to the task at hand.

"Don't worry," Joel said, somewhat irritated, "it's not your fault. Just make sure someone checks the floor up there or someone's bound to get hurt."

"Can you look around? See if you can find a door into another room?" He asked him.

Joel did as he was told. He quickly turned around from left to right, then found a door towards the right side of the wall, directly in the direction of the steam room. He walked up to the wall, and started to hear the noise of machines operating behind the wall. The noises resembled an old steam train so remarkably that he thought he needed to get his ears checked.

Joel opened the door. Immediately, a pipe hanging over the door burst. It let out a high-pitched whistling noise that frightened him, but it gave him time to react. He ducked instinctively.

"Careful," the worker shouted, "with the gun jamming the gears, steam can't flow through the pipes smoothly. They'll burst if they overflow."

"Any suggestions on avoiding that?" Joel called out.

"Listen carefully for any irregular sounds with the metal," he replied, "Rattling pipes or faint whistling noises might mean that pipe's about to blow."

"Got it," Joel said as he got back onto his feet.

"If you see anything else down there that someone might have lost, bring it up if you can," Danny requested, "I'll be here if you need anything."

"Need that flashlight now?" Danny finally asked, but Joel could see well enough with the light shining through from the roof. It would help, but he wanted to get this over with.

"I think I'll be fine," Joel said, "I'll call if I need anything".

"Suit yourself." he replied, "Good luck. Watch your step while you're in there."

"Will do." Joel called out.

He took his time to examine the steam from the pipe. He walked up to it and put his hand out to touch the steam. It hissed as it made contact with his bare skin. Joel pulled back and shook his hand. It was hot, but he expected as much.

 _Better not get too close_ , Joel told himself. Luckily, the steam was venting upwards and there was enough space below for him to crouch under it.

The room on the other side was dark, but light shined through from the door behind him so it wasn't pitch black like the staircase. Speaking of which, Joel wondered where the stairs were. He didn't rush going inside. He took steps carefully.

He moved slowly, using his ears to hear any pipes that were about to pop. The room was split into a left wing and a right wing. A tangled web of pipes crossed over the paths. He moved left, creeping his way along until he noticed a pipe about to pop. He dashed forward in a hurry and caught himself before the steam could burn him. He took a moment to catch his breath, then continued on.

Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he finally came upon a corridor leading into another part of the steam room. He found a hunting rifle of the other side of a web of pipes. The webs were too tangled for him to get through, but he noticed a opening in the pipes leading to it on the left.

 _There's gotta be a way to shut these vents off_ , Joel thought to himself.

He turned around slowly and returned to the previous room. The pipe that busted earlier was still venting steam. He crouched under it again and continued until he reached the door he came through. He turned to the right path and clambered over a pipe that was in his way. He found a valve along the wall, which seemed to be pumping water through the pipes, and moved to close it. He took the handle and twisted it tightly until it turned, When he finished turning it, the pipes stopped venting the steam. He turned back to climb over the pipe, then moved back towards the left, this time a bit quicker and moved into that left room where the fun was. He saw a hole in the roof where the gun had fallen in.

 _I guess that's how it got in here_ , Joel thought to himself.

He moved passed the pipes, and turned to the left where the steam was blocking his path, then to the rifle. Light shined through another broken part of the roof, making it easy for him to see clearly. The rifle stuck out upwards in two cogs that were no longer turning. He grabbed it with both hands and pulled hard. It wouldn't move.. He took a deep breath, and pulled until his hands were red and almost bloody. He flew back with the gun in his hand, and tripped over a pipe. He hit his head hard, but not enough for him to pass out or injure him. He sat upright and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Hey, I got the gun!" Joel shouted. He was surprised to hear him respond.

"Great!" Danny called back, "come on back and get a bite to eat. I have some baked beans if you want 'em."

"You waited for me all that time." Joel muttered under his breath, somewhat flattered.

Joel walked on back into the other room. He heard a loud THUMP behind him and quickly turned. He could barely see a thing, but some of the light shining through the roof showed that an empty pail and broom in the other room had been knocked over followed by the pitter-patter of footsteps. He went back in and found the pail and broom, next to a pipe sticking up from the ground, but nobody was there. Joel heard footsteps again trailing behind him. He turned quickly, but whoever it was ran into the other room before he could see whom it was.

"Hello?" Joel called out. But no one answered him, "How about you come out so I can see you?"

No answer.

Joel checked his gun. It was loaded, as all guns were supposed to be in the apocalypse, but he had a single bullet.

"You better come out or I'll shoot!" Joel shouted out, then he cocked the gun back into place. He raised it, and moved out slowly.

He heard footsteps move behind him, beside him, and all over. Whoever was inside was messing with him. He almost assumed it was an animal, but then he saw a shadowy figure of a human run by the open doorway. The light shining through the door wasn't enough to reveal who it was. It created a very visible figure though, and it was a human. It didn't look like a bandit's shadow though, nor did it move like one. It wasn't a worker or he would have responded. Most likely, it was a clicker, but how come there weren't any spores in the air?

Joel continued his search. Whenever he found a corner where the person was hiding, he would just run off into the next room or the next path. Whoever it was, was small enough to climb through the web of pipes that he couldn't get through, and it was quick. Joel returned to the first door, and decided to check the right side again by the valve.

"RAH!" Ellie shouted as she hopped out from behind the door with her hands up like she was about to jump him.

Startled, Joel darted backwards and shot the gun towards the ceiling. Ellie took cover from the bullet, fell to the floor, and almost died of laughter.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Joel scolded, "I could of killed you."

"Will you lighten up?" Ellie replied, chuckling "I was just fucking with you."

"You scared me half to death," he nearly shouted as she got back onto her feet, "I couldn't tell if you were an infected or a bandit..."

"Is everything okay down there?" Someone shouted from beyond the door, but it wasn't Danny

"We're fine," Joel called out, "Just a misfire."

"Misfire?" The man called out, "Sounded like you were shooting something."

"I thought something was down here." Joel told them, "False alarm."

"Alright!" he called back.

Joel moved into the room. Another door was on the right. He assumed it was the staircase, but when he tried to open the door, it was locked. He didn't want to break it down, so he moved back to climb out of the hole. He could hear that guy who checked on him telling a small group of other men that it was a false alarm. Joel realized the hole was too high up to climb. He looked up, and as Ellie came into the room herself.

"Well, what now?" He asked Ellie to hear if she had any ideas.

"There's a ladder down the hall." she pointed, "You can get it, and I can give you some light."

Ellie pulled out a flashlight from her back pocket and turned it on.

"You had a flashlight?" Joel asked surprised, "Why didn't you use that before?"

"I wanted to scare you," she responded with a snark expression, "I can't scare you if you can see me."

"Sure," was all Joel could say to that, "How did you even get down here?"

"I let her down," Danny said from above, "I thought it was pretty funny myself."

"I didn't know the gun was loaded," Ellie claimed, "Danny said the gun was being taken to storage, so I assumed they took out the ammo."

"What?" Joel questioned, "Did you tell her all this?"

Danny shook his head and shrugged, looking just as surprised as he did.

"I was following you guys," she said, "and I overheard your conversation."

"How come I didn't see you following us then?" Joel asked, but then he decided he didn't care, "You know what? Screw it. Let's just get out of here."

Joel followed Ellie back into the steam room.

"Hand me the flashlight" Joel commanded. Ellie tossed him the flashlight. He caught it, and turned it on, shining it down the right wing of the room. With the light, he could see the rusted pipes much better, as well as a number of boilers he didn't notice as first either, positioned within the tangled webs of pipes. Joel vaulted back over the pipe that stood in the way, and found the ladder on the floor next to the valve.

"Ellie!" Joel called out, "I need you to hold the light for a minute."

"Sure," She responded. She vaulted on over the pipe, and Joel tossed her the light. He then proceeded to pick up the ladder. The head of the ladder touched the roof. He adjusted his grip so he held the ladder horizontally.

"Okay, now shine the light at my feet so I can see where I'm placing this," Joel told her. She did was she thought was appropriate.

"Is this good?" She asked him thoughtfully, and then got out of his way so he could place the ladder under the pipe.

"Yeah," Joel responded, "that's good."

He put the ladder on the ground and slid it through the gap. He vaulted back over the pipe, and then picked the ladder back up.

"Alright," Joel said, grunting, "now shine the light… give me some walking space, will you?"

"Sorry." Ellie said sassily. She walked down the hall next to the door and shined the light near Joel's feet.

"No, it's alright." Joel said, "Just help me get out of here without tripping on anything."

He headed down the hall and into the next room. He put the ladder at the hole and held it steady for Ellie to climb up.

"Ellie, don't ever do that again," Joel pleaded, "I'm too old for that shit."

Ellie giggled without answering and had a devious expression on her face.

"I'm gonna take that as a _no_." Joel decided out loud. Their conversation was concluded.

Ellie climbed the ladder. Once she got up, Joel passed her the gun, and then proceeded to climb the ladder himself. Once he got up, he looked down into the hole.

"Someone better patch that hole up before something else falls in." Joel commented.

"I'm worried I'll fall in." Ellie said.

"That might not be so bad." Joel joked.

"Fuck you." Ellie cursed.

"We'll patch it up as soon as we repair the damaged pipes," Danny promised, "until then, here."

He handed Joel a can of baked beans and a spoon. He grabbed it without a second thought.

"Thanks," Joel said, and then started eating the can.

"What about me?" Ellie asked, "Do you have anything I can eat?"

"I know you already had your breakfast," Danny told her, "I wasn't born yesterday."

Ellie had enjoyed a can earlier from the work crew. She didn't know he knew.

"Maybe next time," Ellie remarked, then jogged up to Joel.

"Hey," Ellie said as she watched him devour the can of beans, "think I can have some of that?"

"Nope," Joel told her, holding the can upside down. Nothing came out, "can's empty."

Ellie sighed. It was worth a shot.

"How you been by the way?" Joel asked her.

"Me?" Ellie wondered. It sort of came out of nowhere to her, "umm… I'm doing fine."

"I mean, after…" Joel didn't mean to pry, but he cared about her. She was nearly chopped to pieces a few months ago, and she was quiet for a long time after that.

"Oh." Ellie figured out what he was talking about. She took a deep breath through her nose, and then exhaled slowly.

"It's on my mind every now and then," she told him, "I try to forget, but thinking about what might have happened… It never leaves me."

Joel cared for her deeply. He was glad to hear she was coping well after that traumatic experience. Most people react much differently than her.

"You'll be fine," he said, then brushed her hair. Ellie chuckled, then they walked out of the building, back onto the bridge.

Ellie was quiet for a while, but something was gnawing at her, like she wanting to say something, but couldn't.

"You sure you're alright?" Joel asked her.

"Yeah," she finally spoke, "It's not what happened with me and David. It's… I'm just disappointed I guess."

"Disappointed about what?" Joel didn't understand.

"I'm disappointed that the fireflies stopped searching for a cure," she said. Joel's heart started pounding. He didn't know how to respond.

"Oh," he said as if he didn't know what she meant, "What about it?"

"It's hard I guess," Ellie took a moment to think, "When Marlene found me, she nearly shot me because I was infected. It took me a while to convince her I wasn't, but when she finally believed me, she kept telling me about how I was the so-called savior for humanity, the cure for the infection, and that bullshit!" She was getting snarky. Joel listened intently, however.

"Marlene believed in me and she made me believe in myself," Ellie sighed, "It's hard to believe that it all turned out to be bullshit. I thought things would change after that."

Joel was so invested in the conversation that he didn't realize they had stopped moving. Ellie was quiet for a long time.

"Remember what I told you when I brought you home," Joel reminded her, "That you need to keep finding something to hold on to. I know you didn't want to hear that, but I wanted to tell you… You became my reason to keep surviving. If anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do…"

Ellie didn't know how to take it. It wasn't anything she didn't already know. What she couldn't understand is why Joel felt he had to tell her this.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ellie asked him.

"I'm just trying to make a connection," Joel told her, somewhat truthfully. "Listen, all I'm trying to say is there's gotta be something here in this world for you. When I lost Sarah, all I had was my brother, but then Tommy left me too. I couldn't find anything worth surviving for a long time, but then you came along."

Ellie was flattered.

"You really think there's something out there?"She asked him, uncertain.

Joel was hurt that she didn't think he was someone worth fighting for. Sarah would have probably felt the same way at her age though. He knelt so he could look Ellie in the eye, and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I know there is." He said. Ellie sighed, and then nodded at him.

"Thank you, Joel,"

They continued across the bridge and returned to the main building. Joel felt guilty for not telling her the truth, but was somewhat happy that he was able to comfort her. Hopefully, she'd get through this phase of trauma soon.


	3. Update: Chapter 2 Is On Its Way!

Update: 7/7/2015

"Progress Report: Chapter 2 is on its way!"

I want to apologize in advance for how long this chapter has taken to get released, and how long it will continue to take… I have redone this chapter five times in order to get the plot right, and I'm still finalizing the details.

Until then, I've only started writing the chapter after putting all my ideas on paper and organizing them. I ask that you be as patient as possible. Know that this next chapter will be a slow one. It will not have any action, yet… And it's here to finish up the Dam prologue and set the plot for the start of the story. Everything I do must be done right, not perfect, but realistic enough for everybody to believe that this could be the next Last of Us. I want people to think of this as an alternate universe that will be the actual storyline until a proper sequel is released. However, if it doesn't live up to that, then forget it. I don't think that will be the case!

I am excited for what's going to take place in this story further down the line, and how Joel and Ellie, and these new characters will evolve.

Until then, know that I have not discontinued this story. I'm merely taking my time!

Thanks for your patiences.


	4. Update 2: Plans for the Future

_**Update 2: 11/3/2015**_

 _Due to a busy work schedule, I have decided to put this story on a "hiatus" while working on the future chapters of the Last of Us 2._

 _The reason for this is because chapter 2 took me over 3 months to complete! This including rewriting the chapter over and over again just to get it right. I really, really want to take my time with this story, and that means that chapters will be released very, very slowly. In order to be able to release chapters at a weekly basis, I've decided to complete the story before uploading any more chapters. I apologize for the inconvenience, but hopefully, in the future, my work will have paid off._

 _Thanks to all who followed this at the beginning, and I apologize for not updating in so long._


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